Criminal Litigation

This is FindLaw's collection of Criminal Litigation articles, part of the Litigation and Disputes section of the Corporate Counsel Center. Law articles in this archive are predominantly written by lawyers for a professional audience seeking business solutions to legal issues. Start your free research with FindLaw.

Provided by
Solomon L. Wisenberg
I have been representing clients in white-collar and other federal criminal appeals for nearly 20 years, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people, laypersons and attorneys alike, are often mystified by this strange process. Why are federal criminal appeals so difficult to understand? Because federal appellate courts are deliberately designed to be cordoned off from criminal defendants, their attorneys, and the public at large. Federal appellate judges and their staffs work behind closed doors, except for the oral arguments that are held every week, month, or several times a year, depending on the court. Why the distance from the public? That's just one of the things I seek to explain in this article: "Federal Criminal Appeals: 10 Things You Should Know."

Provided by
Solomon L. Wisenberg
Just what is a proffer and what are the perils of entering into a proffer agreement (also known as a proffer letter) with the federal government? Proffer or "queen for a day" letters are written agreements between federal prosecutors and individuals under criminal investigation which permit these individuals to tell the government about their knowledge of crimes, with the supposed assurance that their words will not be used against them in any later proceedings. (The individuals can either be witnesses, subjects or targets of a federal investigation, although it is subjects and targets who provide most proffers.)

Provided by
Solomon L. Wisenberg
What do Martha Stewart and enemy combatant Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri have in common? They were both indicted, under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001, for lying to federal government agents.

Provided by
Susan L. Keilitz
This report discusses the results of a study that found that the longer women experience abuse, the more intense the behavior is likely to become and the more likely women are to be severely injured by their abusers.

Provided by
Dean G. Kilpatrick
This article discusses the impact of legal protection on crime victims' rights and whether victims from the "strong-protection States" had better experiences with the justice system than those victims who lived in states with no protection.

Provided by
This Research Preview discusses the stalking aspects of a study of 16,000 men and women 18 years of age or older. It discusses the prevalence of stalking, the characteristics of stalkers and their victims, and the psychological effects of stalking.

Provided by
Robert C. Davis 0 and Edna Frez
This article summarizes a study that investigated whether the diverse cultural makeup of many communities requires the criminal justice system to modify its approach, particularly in handling recent immigrants.

Provided by
John E. Eck 0 and Julie Wartell
This article discusses the results of a study that researched whether improved rental real-estate management could be induced by police action and whether this would reduce crime.